Dementia
by lyresdream
Summary: The loss of a father had its effect on the native of Zanderkand for far too long. Too much anger, too much darkness buried benath a sunny exterior will be unleashed by an underestimated force. And if he's not stopped, hes going to take everyone with him.
1. The Fiend

Hello, and welcome to another one of my fics. Originally, I was going to call this fic Demention (sounds cooler, huh?), but I don't think that's even a word. Well, I had this idea one day, and I couldn't resist. As those of you who follow my work, you know that I'm a big Tidus fan and I am quite frankly tired of all the Tidus bashing and him being portrayed as a big sissy for lack of better word. I believe Tidus is one of the most understated and underestimated final fantasy main characters there is, and I believe Square Soft did a terrible job representing him. Frankly, I don't see why Tidus wasn't the summoner.

To all those concerned with The Dream of Aeons, the Battle of Magic, I do have the chapters ready except with some minor changes and of course editing. In between the times of my job and other life's little projects, I will, of course, have it posted up. It is not dead. It was just dormant along with the rest of the world in this snowy weather we have been having this year in the U.S. Enjoy the fic, and as always, reviews are always appreciated and looked forward to.

Any spelling errors or differences in the story are unintentional and are mine.

Dementia: severe impairment or loss of intellectual capacity and personality integration, due to the loss or damage to neurons in the brain

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X

* * *

In the silvery dark blue forestry of the Macalania Woods, a lone figure ran along the wide trail. Roving his eyes restlessly over the blue crystals, the silvery hued trees and dark green-silver grass carpeting the forest floor, he tried to pick up a familiar color; Rikku's sun gold hair, Yuna's white, blue and pink kimono, Auron's bright red coat, but found nothing. All he received for his efforts was the silvery terrain. Panting, he slowed to a halt on a patch of fine powdery snow that covered the trail in large patches and tried not to panic.

A shock of yellow hair framed a delicately chiseled face. Some would go as far to call it elfish. Sea blue eyes squinted in the thick vegetarian and clusters of crystals, still searching. Thick straps of black leather made his overalls. The right leg of his overall was cut above the knee, and left cut half-way down his calf with a icon of a jagged 'J' in orange etched in the leather. Around his throat a similar symbol rested on the hollow of his throat. Silver metallic buttons and chain studded his leather outfit which was fitted with a small yellow undershirt that exposed his chest. From his left shoulder down, thick plates of armor and leather covered the appendage ending in a gold armored glove. His right hand wasn't so protected, just fitted with a black leather glove. Even compared to the Spiran's standards, the outfit was unusual.

His muscled wiry limbs hid a strength that belied his slight frame. Grueling hours spent at the blitzball stadium training gave him unbelievable speed and nimbleness coupled with a solid strength.

"Okay Tidus, they couldn't have gone too far, right?" the eighteen year old whispered to himself.

Damn, this had to happen. The minute he let the group out his sight, they take off and he's running around like an idiot hoping he's on the right path.

He couldn't believe that they were so careless to forget him, couldn't believe he was careless to let them out of sight. Auron was not going to let him live this down. Yuna and Lulu had run into a hard-shelled Barbuta strolling around their makeshift camp. It was fortunate that they had run into it so close to the camp, otherwise they wouldn't have heard the spell casting. Wakka, Auron, and Rikku were just finished packing up and they had ran ahead to give the two mages a helping hand. Tidus was running behind them when another Barbuta, drawn by the noise, interceded him. He had skidded to a halt and drew Brotherhood. The battle didn't take long since this was only a teenager compared to human years, but it was long enough for everyone to leave him behind.

Exhaling, Tidus stared ahead at the winding trail that disappeared behind a sharp bend. 'Let's see, that battle couldn't have taken long. Ten, fifteen minutes tops.' And it wasn't like he was walking directionless. All he had to do was to keep walking on the path and he would run into them eventually. He thought uneasily. Ten minutes ago he had taken a split path. Was he even on the right one? Shit. He shook his head. There was no help for it. He would just have to keep going on this one. As much as he didn't like to, if he didn't find them in the next half hour, he would backtrack and take the other trail.

Yeah, that's what he would do.

Now that left the question whether he should carry one of his longswords. Reaching into his black pouch strapped to his upper leg, he drew out the four foot long blade. Tidus had long ago gotten used to picking out weapons that logically could never fit in a six inch long, three inch wide pouch, but he never lost his amazement over it. The pouch could hold virtually anything, never having a limited amount of space.

A scroll blossomed in his mind when he reached in the bottomless depths, a detailed list of everything that he had ever placed in there ready for him to take his pick. Potions, antidotes, Fish scales, Phoenix Downs, and finally, every weapon that he had decided to keep that he had used. He drew out Brotherhood, the water elemental sword. Gripping Brotherhood in his leather gloves, he studied the blue metal; molten blue rivers of steel circulating to the tip, bubbles moving in its current and when reaching the tip, popping out in the open air in a burst of white mist. Yet the water sword retained its sharp and unique shape. Solid yet always moving. A tip ended with a cruel piece of metal sticking out of the front, like an oversized sharp hook. It was his favorite sword. He didn't know if it was because the water element reminded him of himself, just as at home in the sphere of water of a blitzball stadium as the solid land beneath him or if it was because Wakka gave it to him, but he always used it above all other swords.

Now the question: should he travel with his sword in his hand or not?

This trail was littered with fiends. It wasn't wise to walk alone in Macalania Woods; the fiends here were difficult enough to handle without back-up. Sure, the airborne Virtigo's and the occasional hard-shelled Barbuta was okay, but the Chimeras and Rhyos were something that you didn't want to face alone.

Finally he stuck Brotherhood back in his pouch. Right now he was focusing on finding everyone and a sword would only weigh him down. He would just be as quiet as he could. A sword was difficult to run with, and not very smart to anyway. Tidus took a breath and resumed his run.

His breaths came in faint wisps of smoke, the air too cold if he stood still for a long time, but pleasantly cool on his skin as he ran. The woods simmered in their ethereal light, crystals shining in the glow. No crickets chirped. The only sound was the regular beat of his shoes, his measured breaths and the steady beat of his heart. A few flakes of snow from the ground somehow landed on his ankles and Tidus felt their chilly kiss before they melted and left his ankles soaked. Even in the evening, Macalania Woods was dark. The only difference in day and night here was the crystals and all the vegetarian glowed silver as nightfall descended.

'And the pyreflies.' He thought to himself with a blush. Memories of last night in the lake surfaced in his mind. He stumbled on a loose rock and pushed the memory away to concentrate. The trail winded around a large corner of thickly grown green trees and as he ran around the corner, the trail continued in a more or less straighter path. The sun scattered across grassy ground weakly. He slowed, but didn't stop running. Doubt was worming into his mind.

Shouldn't he have reached them by now? He couldn't see hide nor hair of Kimahri or anyone else ahead. The path stretched out straight far ahead before it rose out of sight. Sight shaded by the thick branches of leaves of the brown, green and silvery trees. Faint traces of worry puckered his brow.

Shouldn't he have at least seen a footprint? That thought stopped him dead in his tracks. Shoulders rising with chest, he gazed a little frantically at the ground. Snow covered half of the trail and to his unease, realized that the snow was smashed into the ground from tracks. Fiend tracks.

"Oh no." he uttered under his breath. He recognized the wide shuffling walk of the Flans and the taloned feet as wide as his arms from the Rhyos. Little points that were stabbed in the snow must be from the Tentacles that hovered too close to the ground. There were even chocobo tracks. Of course Tidus, he chided himself. This is a road. Fiends like roads.

But this many? The ground was practically smashed from the constant treading. There was no way to tell if his companions had passed through. The snow was too densely packed to leave another's steps as light as Rikku and Wakka. Fiends were heavy. Tidus gazed around. The tall tree and blue crystals grew on both sides of the road. Thick little vegetarian of dark leaves layered the ground where soft curly moss did not cover in the woods. In dark green leaves and crystals, the silver glow within had grown stronger, meticiouslously hiding the vicious fiends in this treachous maze. It was as if he was running in velvet green and blue world lined with silver. Even the air was sweet. Over the treetops, a pyrefly floated serenely by. Essence of the dead and the making of fiends. Despite the pressing matter, Tidus let himself be distracted with its distorted colors. Like oil in water.

The sphere of light was no bigger than his two fists he knew. However the beautiful sighting hid a grimmer fact. Pyreflies were parts of the dead, one puzzle piece in the whole picture, which were sent to the Farplane where they may rest in peace. However, if the dead were unsent, or their emotions were strong enough, they would remain in this world. If the soul of the person desperately wanted to become alive again, they would become fiends. There was no way of distinguishing between what pyrefly wanted to live or not, but that only made him more cautious.

And where there were pyreflies, there were fiends. Basic elementary. When the pyrefly had flown out of sight, Tidus looked warily around once more.

The woods remained innocently silent.

Flicking hands open, hands areal to each other like he was gesturing a straight road with hands close to his chest, he spoke sternly. "Okay Tidus, just for another ten minutes. If there's nothing, then turn around and take other path." Closing his eyes and nodding once, he took in a breath and let it out. But before he even took his second step, a body fell to the ground in front of him.

"Shit!" Tidus screamed jumping back. The fiend growled low in the back of its throat. Needle sharp teeth caught his eye first. It was vaguely resembled a lizard crossed over with a wolf. Lupine facial structures with the reptile replica teeth.

The shoulder haunches were broad and thick, tapering to an almost frightening thinness at its stomach, but widened out at the hips. Its limbs were thin and brittle looking. Its hind feet were paws whiles the front resembled more of the reptile type. Low to the ground were three very long, and very sharp milk white talons digging in the moss and grit. Its smooth hide was a rich purple, neither scaly nor hairy, just skin except over the head; which sported inch long white hair that covered the lupine like ears. Purple was the dominant color on this fiend. Even its eyes were a brilliant violet color.

It held a rabbit in its mouth. He couldn't tell what color the fur was anymore. The whole thing was encrusted with wet and dried blood. Puncture wound littered the whole body and amazingly, the rabbit was still alive. It kicked feebly, shallowly gasping. Tidus felt his heart go out to rabbit with nausea. There was no telling how long the rabbit had been kept alive, but judging from how dry the blood was in some places, too long. It cried feebly; a high, faint whine. The fiend's tongue licked the fur and shook its head like a dog with a bone. The rabbit's limbs flapped like a rag. A faint trickle of blood dripped on the snow, staining the pristine pearl white snow a scarlet drop. Done with its toy, the fiend closed its jaws with a decisive snap and discarded the rabbit on the snow without ever taking his eyes of him.

Tidus stared at it for a second before his hand fumbled for the pouch. But it was a second too long. The creature bunched low to the ground and jumped.

Tidus barely had time to activate his arm-shield before they he was knocked to the ground. At this point Tidus personally found out how sharp those front talons were as they scrapped across his chest. He didn't even have time to register the pain except as a slight sting as he desperately tried to hold off the fiend with one hand and block its mouth with his shield. Even holding it off like this strained his arms quickly enough it alarmed him.

The creature writhed, talons and claws scrapping bloody on his chest. Tidus cried out, struggling to summon a basic fire spell, but his mind was pulling in several different places at once. Finally he reined his mind to recall the spell. Heat built up in the palm of his hand that was holding the creature's body away. In less than a second, the heat blossomed into a full Fire spell, scorching the creature's belly. It shrieked and scrambled off. Tidus rolled to his feet and drew Brotherhood.

The creature drew up on its hind legs to lick its belly with an abnormally long wolf tongue. Snatching the advantage, Tidus attacked, drawing Brotherhood and bringing it down on the fiend. His sword bit air as the fiend jumped out of the way. It crunched and jumped again, hoping for a repeat and kill him this time. But there was a reason why Tidus was the star of the Zandarkand Abes. Strength wasn't always enough and when brute strength couldn't do it, speed won him his game. A cementer slower and he may not have made it, but Tidus managed to bring Brotherhood up and slam it into the fiend's side, knocking it off course and to the ground. It rolled to its feet and snarled. Perspiration beaded on his forehead. The hide was smooth and flawless. Brotherhood didn't even make as much as a scratch.

Tidus drew up the water blade in a defensive mode and grabbed a chocobo feather from his pouch. The yellow feather dissolved into the air simultaneous as an ornate clock of orange light appeared around him and faded. Equipped with Haste, Tidus took the offensive. His sword barely made a scratch in the hide, so he wasn't going to waste his time with physical attacks. Thrusting his hand in his pouch again, Tidus grabbed a Fire Gem and threw it. The creature blinked as if underwater, but didn't move at the seemingly harmless small jewel. The gem struck its chest and flames consumed the creature.

It screeched in agony. To Tidus, it was like listening to a movie being played at half-speed. Everything drawn out. The cackling of the flames. The different notes of pain in the fiends howl, the brittle limbs spasming with lips drawn back in pain. The flames dispersed. Blind with pain, the creature charged him, three dagger sharp claws from its paws slowly hitting the snow and moss-covered ground, eager to rind and mangle.

In a moment, Tidus saw what damage the Fire Gem did. The back was bone dry, all signs of moisture burned off but otherwise unharmed. However, the closer the flames got to the stomach, the more damaging the Fire Gem became. Along the sides of the belly, the skin became wrinkled, quickly becoming charred and black until it reached the belly, where most of the damage accumulated. The belly was black and smoky. Chunks of flesh had been completely burned to a crisp. The damage reached to the top part of the inside of its legs. Tidus gagged at the smell that wafted from it.

The fiend wasn't very imaginative or it was too occupied by pain to come up with a new strategy. It jumped, only the thought of tackling him to the ground and killing him had room in its predatory head.

As the fiend was in midair, Tidus ducked and drew back Brotherhood until the fiend was exactly above him. Springing up, Tidus thrust Brotherhood right into the falling bits of charred flesh and blood that was its stomach. He let go of the handle. The sword and fiend sailed over him and into the ground. Tidus watched their progress. The creature squealed faintly. The handle touched the ground first, shoving the blade farther into its mess of a stomach then tilted and split through the back. The fiend landed on its stomach, blade and all. It struggled weakly. Even in Haste mode, Tidus could see that its movements were sluggish.

Cautiously, he approached it.

The fiend tried to get up, but failed, landing what few inches it gained back on grass and metal. Tidus made a quick grab for Brotherhood's handle and drew it out of the body. The fiend hissed, but could only writhe in pain. Breathing heavily, Tidus walked around to the head, careful to keep a safe distance from its white claws. Blood pooled into the ground around it. It was still alive, but just barely. It's body spasmed and collapsed. Panting, the fiend looked up at Tidus with its violet eyes. The raw hatred in that orb burned with a clarity that unnerved him. He could just leave it, but it would be more merciful to just put it out of its misery. Steeling himself, Tidus took another look in its eyes. Swinging Brotherhood up, Tidus brought the blade down across its neck. It snarled and snapped its jaw in defiance before there was loud 'crack'. The skin around the neck didn't break, but the bones did. The fiend's eyes dulled and it stilled. The hind legs with their black talons stopped scratching, the white claws of its front relaxed and collapsed. He stepped closer, foot brushing the white talons. It was dead. Tidus breathed out. Thank Spira.

A pyrefly ghosted its way out of the fiend and disappeared. Then another. Then the body burst into a cloud of the multi-colored spheres of the dead. Tidus widened his eyes as his world became veiled in pyreflies. The colored lights glowed in the dark blue of the woods.

Beautiful.

A small tingle formed in his stomach, foot and back. Without taking his eyes off the ascending pyreflies, he brushed his stomach absent mindly and felt nothing more. As the last pyrefly faded away, Tidus could only feel relief. He closed his eyes, and breathed heavily. When he opened his eyes, he saw the blood soaked ground and scarlet snow. Making a face, he stepped away from it only to wince in pain as the movement jarred the wounds on his chest, making his whole chest sting. Crap.

He looked down and cursed again, this time louder. His chest was coated with a thin sheen of blood. Dryness trickled his throat. There were at least ten gashes sliced on his chest.

There were three long gashes about six inches long on his right bicep. That one had dug and sliced right into muscle. There were five slices on his left bicep, one cut over the other, tearing his shirt and ripping his overall strap in half. His yellow shirt was torn in tatters, and dyed the color of his blood. Several little nicks had sliced his rib cage and his unprotected belly.

The part of his body covered by his overall's fared better. His overall's had scratches and several cuts the sliced through the tough leather.

Tidus traced the air over the deepest one on his right bicep, hissing as the movement heightened the stinging.

It felt like he had walked in a wasp nest. He coughed, jarring his entire chest painfully. He tasted blood. Anxiety flooded him. What did the fiend do? Puncture a lung?

He bit his tongue in pain and willed himself not to cry out.

Blood was pouring out like tap water, and though he was no white mage, even he could tell the damage was severe. Tidus breath quickened. He needed to do something fast, because he was could _feel_ himself becoming weaker, and fiends were attracted to the smell of blood. He wasn't in any condition to fight. Tidus quickly, but carefully reached into his pouch, trying to move his chest as little as possible. His hands closed around a Hi-Potion and he pulled the little blue diamond shape vial. Slowly, he brought it up to his mouth, stopping several times when the pain spiked. He uncorked the lid and brought it to his lips. Dark blue liquid dripped on his lips, the scent and taste of flowers and sweet honey on his tongue. Then he tilted the entire contents in his mouth. Instantly the stinging subsided to a more manageable level. He felt something inside start to mend, something delicate. Stitching together like spider-webs. He gazed down to watch the healing.

The smaller angry red scratches of his ribs and stomach lightened and turned a bright pink. The smaller scratches disappeared altogether. Muscles knit together, but the wounds on his chest didn't shut. Tidus pulled another Hi-Potion out, less carefully this time and drank. This time the gaping wide splits slowly pulled together and seamed shut. When it was finished, the cut muscle slashes had faded to bright pink scratches. The smaller cuts had faded away completely, but the large scratches had turned into barely noticeable white scars. He tenderly ran his hand over his new scars, probing for soreness. Except the once gaping wounds that now resembled cat scratches, his torso had healed nicely. He looked up and noticed for the first time the guts that smeared Brotherhood. Making a face, he stepped away from the bloodied ground and to a clean patch of snow. He wiped the blade clean on the snow. The molten blue seemed to glow in the dark forest and silver glowing environment.

Now he needed to find Yuna and his group and fast. He got lucky this time, but who knew what he would have to face after this? The road opened modestly ahead and up the hill. He looked behind him, then ahead. The odds of running into fiends heightened if he went back. Guess there was only forward then.

Haste was still in effect and would be for a little while longer. Tidus stuffed Brotherhood in his pouch and ran.

* * *

I'm still a rookie at fighting scences, but I like to think I'm getting better.

Please read and review.


	2. A Onesided Argument

Welcome back.

I had this piece already written up, so I thought I just edit it and post it up. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

* * *

It seemed unfair that after only ten minutes, he caught sight of very familiar group. Everyone was sitting around an open flame. Yuna was gazing into the fire quietly perched on a log. Rikku was sitting cross legged in front of the fire, various items and potions out to mix. Wakka was tossing and catching a blitzball, Lulu sat on a tree stump, sewing a rip in one of her dolls. Auron was sitting next to Yuna polishing his must-weigh-three-hundred-pounds broadsword. Kimarhi was the only one standing on guard. It was Kimarhi who first noticed him. Kimarhi watched him with those bright yellow cat eyes of his as he slowed to a walk to catch him breath twenty yards from them. He powered-walk the rest of the way. The Haste had faded just a few minutes ago, so time was back to normal. He was so happy to see them; he let the wash of relief fill his insides.

"Hey!"

Simultaneously, everyone looked up from what they were doing. Rikku's face split into a grin. "Hey, your late!" she said loudly. Wakka, Yuna, Lulu and

Rikku got up and surrounded him. "Where were you?" Yuna asked, a relieved smile on her face. "Ya, you get lost or somethin'?" To avoid any concern, he had changed into a different set of clothes right before Haste ended.

"Did you get lost?" The Al Bhed asked.

"Were you okay?" Yuna asked.

The concern of his immediate surrounding friends was evident, and he felt a small flush of warmth at the strength.

"No, no," he said, holding up his hands to wave off their questions. "I mean, I'm okay." he added hastily. "I don't know what happened. I just couldn't find you guys."

Gazing intently with her cherry-red eyes leveled at him, the black mage finally spoke, "What road did you take?"

Tidus stared at her blankly. "Huh?"

Puckering her eyebrows in annoyance, Lulu repeated, "The road? There's a fork in the path. Which one did you take?"

Looking down, Tidus scratched his head thoughtfully. "Uhh.... I can't remember. The left I think?" He looked at Lulu apologetically. "But I guess I took the right one."

Black material trimmed with white fur speckled with black hung in a thick, tight layer on the black mage. Drawing her long sleeved arms over her chest, she chided him silently with her eyes. "No, both roads lead right to the main road." she gestured behind him. Tidus turned his head, and sure enough, the road did split in two. They looked almost identical except the path that he just came out of was filled with more and thicker vegetarian.

"You should have taken the right one." Yuna said her blue and green eye alight in the silvery light.

Feeling a little lost at her conviction, he asked, "Why? What's the difference?"

"Not so many strong baddies on the road brudda." Wakka answered, setting the blitz on the ground. "More fiends, but a lot easier to kill. Left one doesn't have as many fiends, but the ones on there can kill ya easy."

Tidus groaned. "No wonder I couldn't find you guys. Do you know how long I was running?"

"Not long enough." Lulu said curtly, going back to finish her sewing. Tidus watched her go, a little taken back by her rudeness. "Relax brudda." Wakka pounded him on the back. Tidus tried not to think of the bruise that he was going to have. "She's just upset because we had to stop early." Shaking her golden tresses up and down, Rikku nodded. "Yeah, but I think we needed to stop early anyway. We've been traveling since dawn, and I'm _tired_." The blonde turned and resumed her alchemy. But even Rikku's happy nature couldn't stop the terrible feeling that he had inconvinced everyone.

No wonder Lulu was upset. He had held everyone up. Shamefaced, he turned to the summoner. "Sorry Yuna."

"Oh, it's okay," Gushing in her haste to reassure him. "I think we needed the rest anyway. Rikku was looking a little pale." Wakka snorted. "That's just the creepy light here, ya? Everyone looks pale in it." Tidus and Yuna broke out in a grin. "Well, it's still nice to sit down and relax a little." Yuna said.

Wakka gave a broad grin of his own. "Hey, you get no arguments from me, ya?"

Yuna and Wakka turned and sat back down. Wakka continued his toss-and-catch but Yuna pulled out a scroll that Tidus recognized as a spell book of sorts for white mages and started reading, shifting her body so she caught the light from a nearby crystal. Not knowing what else to do, he sat next to Rikku who chatted about the various potions and what to mix with what to get this. This continued for the next hour as Tidus watched her mix and put together new items, occasionally helping out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Auron slow in his polishing to stare at him. His eyes were hidden by his black sunglasses so Tidus couldn't interpret his look, but it couldn't have been good. Auron eventually turned his attention back to his broadsword, turning it over to work on the other side.

* * *

Overhead, the crescent moon shone in a silvery fever, adding light to an already glowing forest. The constellations shone in their ethereal beauty, higher than anything earthly. No clouds marred the heavens, no manmade light for miles to block out the beauty of the stars. Far below the beautiful sky, the Macalaina Woods had enhanced its silvery-blue glow. Tidus watched as Rikku packed up her alchemy, grabbing fistfuls of bottles and stuffing them in her bag. In his hands he held out four bottles. Rikku looked at the bottles and shook her head. "You keep them. I've got enough of those." Tidus examined the various colored bottles. "Are you sure? You never know when you might need one of these." Like now for instance. He discretely held an arm over his stomach. It had started to ache.

Slowly nodding, Rikku "Mumph-hmmm." as she finished adding the last Fish Scale to the bag. As soon as she snapped the bag shut, Wakka commented on the fire. "Hey, we're getting a little low on the wood, ya? Whose turn was it?" Tidus carefully set his new found alchemy in his pouch. It wasn't his turn to get the firewood yet.

"Tidus will get it." Auron grunted. Snapping his head up, Tidus glared the guardian. "What?" Auron had finished polishing his broadsword an hour ago in favor of a book. He now set the book-some sort of technique guidebook-down and stood up. "Isn't it Rikku's turn?" Yuna inquired to Auron's retreating back.

"No, it's Tidus's turn." Auron continued walking.

Lulu had finished her sewing and like Yuna, she had picked up a reading scroll. From the looks of it, it was one of Yuna's old scrolls, which faintly surprised him. Since when did Lulu read up on white magic? She glanced up at Tidus and Auron and deemed it wise to keep reading. Rikku set out one of her older weapon, a glove with sharp talons extended from the knuckles, to clean. She had mentioned that she wanted to sell it for some extra gil, though Tidus privately wondered why. The slender thief could steal enough gil from fiends if she wanted to. Rikku didn't even look like she heard Auron's unfair request, already polishing the knives with a rag. Wakka had somehow managed to snag a blitzball magazine and was too enthralled with the reading to give attention to the outside world. The only one who was watching him were Kimarhi and Yuna, the latter giving him a helpless shrug. Tidus's mouth tightened, but he got up and followed Auron.

His right foot tingled as he stepped on it. He hadn't felt the tingle that marked the start of his foot being asleep when he was sitting down, but he ignored it. He choose to focus on why he was even getting up. Probably his silent 'punishment' for getting lost. It wasn't that he was overly tired to bring back firewood, but it was the principle of the thing. They had what, two, three hours to sit around and read and polish swords while he ran half the terrain of this Macalania Wood and nearly died fighting that fiend.

Tidus broke off that thought uneasily. Died?

He reviewed the fiend's attack, the quick reflexes and the raw strength that belied the brittle looking limbs. And the talons. Tidus rubbed his hand over the newly acquired scars, surprised that no one noticed. The fight shot in his mind in slow motion, highlighting every detail, every speck of spit that spat out of the fiends jaws, the unnaturally long teeth that was unusual even for a wolf or reptile. Memories of muscles bunching under a smooth eggplant purple skin, the shock of white hair on its head, how white the talons were when they jumped at him and how bright red they shone when they ripped into him.

The fiends jumps, attacks, its ruthless tactic to take him down and tear into him. He was lucky the thing hadn't hit a major artery. As it was, he now had several scars that marked the closing of torn muscle.

If he didn't know how to cast Fire, or was just a little bit slower, or a little less focused...Tidus dropped his hand. It wouldn't do him any good to worry about it. It was over and done with.

But it still sucked that he had to get the stupid firewood when he came close to making an earlier visit to the Farplane then he planned. And what was he getting punished for? For getting lost? How stupid was that?

Scowling, he followed Auron deeper in to the forest. Auron had disregarded taking his weapon out. Probably worried he would get it dirty. Auron continued walking like he always did. Right arm in a makeshift sling, bright red coat flapping against his black boots as he took a step, confident that he would continue taking his steps no matter who or what stood in his way. Tidus snorted in disgust and rolled his eyes. Trust Auron would always be confident. He always knew what the hell was going on. The ground could split in two and they could all fall to a roaring pit of tar and Auron would sit calmly by and be secure in the knowledge that he knew this was going to happen and what was going to happen next. Especially if it involved a big fiend.

He wouldn't say anything, no, heaven forbid he give out information he thought Tidus wasn't ready for. Auron had the strong, silent type aura which made it a pain to wheedle anything out of him. The man was so damn secretive. Even in Zanderkand, Auron kept to himself. But he always had an answer for every question that Tidus had. Sure, sometimes it was in riddles, sometimes he refused to answer outright, but he always had an answer. Why couldn't the man just tell him what was going on? How many more secrets did he keep locked down in his silent skull? What else was he keeping from him? Was it too much to ask him to trust him with the truth? Tidus blinked, and let out a breath that dissolved his anger, surprised at the heat of the uncharacteristic surge of anger that had gripped him. 'Calm down,' he told himself. 'It's just been a really, really long day.'

They had lost sight of camp several minutes ago when they spotted a fallen trunk. Auron kneeled next to the dead wood and ran a hand over it. "It's dry." He said tersely.

Drawing out one of his blue broadswords, he gave the tree a few well-placed hacks that split the wood into enough pieces to last the next night over. Tidus watched him handle the sword. Logically, no one should be able to lift that thing. It was as tall as Tidus, and he was pretty sure a lot more heavier than Auron. Auron did give out signs that it was heavy though. He always carried it on his broad shoulder, never taking the weight off until he was ready to attack. It took a second longer for Auron to lift the sword than your average swordsman with a longsword, but when he brought it down, the damage was catastrophic.

I guess that's what makes Auron the strongest. The weight of the heavy metal, the strength of a man who could wield it would be enough to make any one or fiend unwillingly to pick a fight with him. Tidus mused silently. The snow on the road simmered in the silvery glow, making the dark green grass all the darker.

When he was finished, Auron slid the Broadsword into his pouch and gestured for Tidus without turning. Feeling a flush of his original annoyance, Tidus stepped closer and knelt down to pick up the pieces, avoiding Auron's eyes. Macalania wood burned slow and bright. Just a handful of logs would last the night. Tidus grabbed two large chunks of woods, finding it awkward, set it down, and tried to add more wood to the pile to avoid the chance of having to come back.

"You didn't keep up today." Auron said expectedly. Tidus turned his head to look at him. Auron was leaning against a tree watching him. The annoyance Tidus felt earlier spiked in him, and he turned his head so Auron wouldn't see it and comment on it. "I got lost." he told him, determinedly picking up pieces of log and examining them. This one was okay. What about th-? No, all sorts of rot. This one? Eww, bugs...

"You got lost?" Tidus couldn't see it, but he just _knew_ that Auron raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Auron, I got lost. You left me behind and I got lost, okay?" Tidus snapped, throwing a good piece of wood on top a small pile a little harder then necessary.

A moment of silence, then, "Did you look at you map?" Grimacing, and not because of the rotting piece of wood he was holding, Tidus said tightly, "No." He prepared a defensive speech; the unexpected abandonment made him worried, how much energy running took, how bad he felt that he did get left behind, but Auron just grunted.

More silence, except the 'clunk' of wood hitting wood. He was almost finished. "Part of being a guardian is being prepared for the unexpected." Jumping to his feet and spinning around to face the red cloaked guardian, Tidus gestured openly with his hands. "Look, I didn't plan on getting split up. It just happen-"

"We lost three hours of daylight because of you." Auron cut in sharply. "We had discussed the roads well before we came here, and Yuna had even gone so far to list the paths on everyone's map. Your inattention to detail was what got you separated from the group, and could have gotten you killed." Tidus opened his mouth to argue, to tell him, maybe he did run into trouble, maybe he did run into something that should have been fought with more than one person, but that would have just proved the guardian right. Auron stepped away from the tree he was leaning against and walked back to camp. His back to him, "You have only yourself to blame."

Red-faced out of anger and humiliation, Tidus turned back to the firewood. Fine! He didn't need him anyway. If all he was going to do was just drag him out here for a lecture, let him go. At least he wouldn't have to put up with his sour company the rest of the way back. Tidus scrapped the stack of firewood into his arms, but pieces kept dropping. Angrily, he gathered the small pieces and tried reaching for the larger piece but he was forced to set the bundle down when it proved too awkward. He glared at the wood. How was he going to do this? Maybe he could tie it together? No...

A thought struck him and he grinned. Grabbing the largest pieces, he stuffed them in his pouch, curious if it would work. The lip of the pouch stretched out and doubt struck Tidus when it swallowed the pieces of tree. Ha! He grabbed the smaller pieces of wood in his arms, mightily pleased with himself and started off back to camp. Who said he lacked detail?

Auron was already out of sight, which was fine by him. Arms full with the dark blue wood, he made the trek back.


	3. Bitter Pangs

I would like to say that if you don't recognize the weapons, it's because I made them up.

Previously, I was made mention that Tidus is acting OoC. In a way, he is, in a way, he's not. Being verbally abused by a parental figure tends to create harbored feelings of hostility, bitterness and anger, which Tidus does hide partially. He has no trouble giving out his anger, but such a important figure in his life that follows him where ever he goes, through childhood, his mother's loss, blitzball, would accumilate a great deal more anger then an average person. Jecht paved the way to blitzball for Tidus, and I believe that he both admires and resents him for this.

Please enjoy the chapter and feel free to comment on anything you like or dislike. Once again, no flamers. Destructive critisim is a terrible form of venting frusteration on both sides and is no good to anybody. However, I am alwasy open to construtive critisim. Though I will not hold this story for ransom, reviews are very motivating. Thank you.

All mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or the characters.

* * *

By time he got back to camp, Auron was back to his book. Everyone had laid out their sleeping bags except Kimahri. It was more of the reason that he liked to sleep sitting up then he was still on guard. Ever diligent, Kimahri still stood silently at his post. Tidus walked past him and dumped the firewood on the pile that was leaning against a tree. Dusting his hands, Tidus walked to an open spot and fished out his sleeping bag. The pouch yielded the large blue sleeping bag. No matter how many times he saw it, Tidus thought anyone pulling a sleeping bag out of the pouch looked kind of stupid because it was so long, you had to keep pulling and pulling on it to get the whole thing out. But the cover came out easily enough.

Often, they would sleep feet to the fire, circling the flame with a plenty of space separating each other. Tonight he placed his sleeping bag between Wakka and Lulu. There was plenty of space by Auron and Yuna, but his dislike for the guardian even outweighed his want to sleep close to Yuna. Grabbing both ends, he smoothed his bag and gave it an extra shake. When it was finished to his satisfaction, he sat down and pulled out a second level white magic scroll. If he was going to get caught unawares again, he was going to know how to use Protect. He steadfastly ignored Auron, who didn't even glance at him.

Soon Lulu got up from her seat and sat next to Yuna with questions about the scroll she was reading. Their quiet conversation continued even as Rikku and Wakka left their seats and settled on their sleeping bag. "Hey, Yuna, Lulu, don't ya think it's time to turn in?" Wakka asked, settling himself more comfortably on his sleeping bag. "Don't you think it's a bit early?" Yuna asked questionly. "No. We get up at dawn." Auron said from behind his book. "I get third watch." Wakka said quickly. "I'll take sixth watch." came Rikku's voice slightly muffled, cocooning herself in the blanket. "I will take the fifth watch." Lulu announced, getting to her feet. Always a team player, Tidus threw his lot in, "Seventh." "Fourth" Yuna chimed in. "I'll cover second." Auron gruffly said. Usually, a fire is good enough to keep away any curious fiends, but once in a while, you get a fiend that's too hungry to let caution get in the way of an easy meal. There were seven watches; they each took a turn as guard. Tidus liked getting the last watch. He was a natural early bird. Before long, they were settled in their sleeping bags. The thick blanket snuggly around him, Tidus let his mind wander over the day events.

'Been a weird day. Glad it's over though.' He thought sleepily. Yawning, he snuggled deeper in his cozy warmth.

* * *

Tidus jerked awake with a start. Rikku jumped back. "Sorry." she said quietly. Tidus blinked several times and let his head fall back. "It's your shift." Rikku whispered. He stared incomprehensively at her for a minute, dark tendrils of blackness unwrapping from his mind, then nodded. "Kay." He muttered thickly. "I'm getting up." The Al Bhed nodded once and went to her sleeping bag. Tidus watched her impassively then threw back his cover the cool Macalania air hit him. He sat up, and his breath hitched. Every muscle in his body ached like he had been in the gym for half a day after a month of being a couch potato. Gingerly, he got up, feeling various groups of muscles scream in protest. Slowly, he walked around the sleeping form of Wakka and Yuna to the tree stump. Every time he lifted his legs to take another step, he could feel his calves, his thigh, his upper leg... Good fayth, even his feet ached! Stifling a groan, he placed his hands on either side of him on the stump for a smoother sitting.

'I must look like an old man.' he thought as his body made contact with the stump. He still let out a small moan as his butt made itself known. 'Feel like I've done a deluxe blitz workout,' he thought disgruntled. The fire cackled merrily. Rikku must have stocked it before she woke him. He would have to thank her when she got up. Everyone was in a deep sleep, probably worn out from their own shifts. Drawing out a strawberry grain bar, Tidus ripped off the wrapper and chewed it slowly.

The silver light that touched everything lightened and disappeared completely around the campfire. Light and shadow danced on his Yuna's face. Tidus watched it, mesmerized. Her face was turned towards him, giving him an excellent view of her angelic face. The pieces of tawny hair that had fallen barely touched her nose. He let his eyes wonder from her and around the camp. Rikku had already fallen asleep, if her steady breathing was anything to go by. Everyone was sleeping soundly. Even Auron and Kimahri. Granted Kimahri was sleeping sitting upright, but that just Kimahri. Tidus glanced at Auron, and felt a bitter sting of anger from earlier that felt too sharp.

He looked away. He didn't want to spend the morning brooding. The silver-blue light was growing fainter, but still strong enough to give this place an ethereal beauty. To his surprise, he actually liked it. Upon reflection, his getting separated and the fight with Auron, if you can call it a fight, was the only bad thing that really happened. Even last night's ambush from a Rhyo was something he didn't mind.

The forest was quiet, like the woods were asleep. The blue and green leaves of the trees almost hid the stars and the still night sky. He could almost feel it, the blue and silver light bathing his body and the orange light of the fire, moving together, but never mixing. The crystals shimmered in the fiery light, sparkling like a fiery gem. He studied the blue, silver and green landscape and finished his bar. After he dusted his hands, he settled more comfortably on his seat and looked at the beginning of dawn.

* * *

After everyone ate breakfast and packed up camp in the pale blue air before dawn, they set out. His body didn't ache so much, but walking still pulled several tendons in the top of his legs, his calves, thigh, and rip cage. Hopefully, the walk would help loosen them up.

This time Tidus fell in step with Yuna. She gave him a radiant smile, which he returned, but neither said a word, both comfortable with the silence. In fact, everyone was silent, feeling as if words would somehow disrupt the beauty of their surroundings. Snow crunched underfoot in the twinkling woods.

An hour passed like this, the only difference in the woods was the morning sun. Finally Rikku asked what was on everyone minds. "Are you sure we're not going around in circles?"

Tidus looked around gloomily. Nothing really changed. The silver glow had receded somewhat, but the crystals, the trees and the thick mat of grass sure looked the same. "We're on the right path." Auron spoke up from behind them.

"Oh yeah? How do you know?" Rikku asked looking over her shoulder to look at him. "I traveled this road once before." He replied. Giving a sigh, Rikku stared back ahead.

"How long until we get to the end of the woods, do ya remember?" Wakka asked.

"Yes."

Ahead unseen, Tidus rolled his eyes. Typical Auron.

Time passed. Nothing changed. The woods shimmered innocently.

"Can we take a break now?" Rikku asked aloud. "It's almost noon Rikku. Can you wait a little longer?" Lulu asked, cradling her Moomba. Eyeing the doll untrustingly, Rikku answered in less of a whine then she normally would. The Moomba was lightening based. An occasional zap trailed over its stuffed body.

"I guess a little while wouldn't hurt." Lulu smiled, the lightening completely unaffecting her.

"We don't have far to travel." Yuna said, taking pity on the girl. Rikku opened her mouth to answer, but the faint sound of bushes being rustled held her tongue. As one, they stopped, and looked around, ears perked. They didn't have to wait long. Two Sallet's ran out of the woods, ambushing them on both sides. A White Elemental and Flan Azul behind them, and two Barbuta's in the front. The next instant, weapons appeared out of nowhere. Lulu and Yuna moved slightly to the side to avoid being cut as Auron and Tidus drew their swords.

"We'll take the front!" Wakka called back. Tidus and Kimahri rushed forward.

Clutching her staff, Yuna stayed where she was, ready to cast the first Cure that was called for. Likewise, Auron, Rikku and Lulu faced the back fiends. Kimahri motioned to one fiend to Tidus and Wakka, and then cast his Jump ability. The Ronso disappeared from sight as he literally leapt out of sight, giving more room for Wakka and Tidus to work.

The sound of Lulu's ominous spellcasting and Yuna's murmuring Prayer were drowned out as Wakka hurled his blitzball into the face of a Barbuta. The fiend was to slow to bring it's hard-shelled arms to block off Wakka's swift attack, earning it a loud 'smack'.

Barbuta's resembled a rough resemblance of a scoop of mashed potatoes. It's outer surface was elegantly rounded, but the hide was coarse. It's arms were two large shields, the hide built over it's arms until it reached the ground. The hide was tough and difficult to penetrate, but the weight of it's shell slowed it down to the point that anyone they attacked usually had a chance to step to the side. The fiend retaliated by charging Wakka. He stepped to the side just as the Barbuta attempted to slam into him. What Wakka failed to see was the second Barbuta making a like attack, knocking him to his feet.

Tidus was ineffectively attacking the Sallet. The Sallet was a cousin of the Barbuta, not as strong, but the shell was something that couldn't be made short work of. He dodged the Sallet's attack, sidestepped closer to the Barbuta and rammed his longsword into the soft flesh in between the stiff shell into the Barbuta that had attacked Wakka. Underneath the hard shell, the Barbuta was soft and vulnerable. Like a armadillo. He got a critical hit. The sword slipped easily in the fiend, puncturing its lung. The invasion of steel was too much for it, and the fiend collapsed in a burst of pyreflies. Enraged at the death of his comrade, the Sallet charged him. It stopped dead in it's tracks when a spear hurtled down from the heavens with Kimahri latched onto it. Under normal circumstances, the sharpened spear would only scratch its exterior shield, but an aerial attack combined with Kimahri's heavy weight drove the spear straight through thick shell. Kimhari withdrew it with a grunt, placing his foot on the Sallet's shell as leverage. When the heavy spear tip slipped out, the Sallet groaned and collapsed, its heavy arms in outstretched and faded into pyreflies. That just left the last Barbuta. It closed its arms together, shielding its face. A faint red glimmered over its entire shell.

"It's going berserk!" Tidus shouted. Kimahri placed his index and middle finger to his head for a moment's concentration and sliced the air toward the enraged Barbuta. Gallons of water poured from an invisible well in the air over the fiend. Taking the initiative, Wakka hurtled his blitzball into the fiend just as Tidus charged, leapt and brought Brotherhood down as hard as could on the fiend. Brotherhood whipped through the air and through the invisible waterfall. Water sprayed over his gloved hands, over his shoes and splattered haphazardly over his clothing. When the water sword touched its own element, the slow, steady current in the sword suddenly became alive; the current became a ((rapid)), circulating faster. The metal sheared into shell, sinking into its organic shell.

Tidus grinned. Water fed Brotherhood, making it stronger.

As Brotherhood was still in the Barbuta, Tidus looked at the fiend. It's arms still covered it's face, but they both knew how close Tidus was. Water still gushed from nowhere. The Barbuta felt it's scrawny knees buckling, the constant outpouring attacks too much. Dark spots were closing in around its vision and it could feel its strength slipping away with the suffocating water. Giving a sigh, it let go. All the memories, all the thoughts that made it up slowly came undone into hundreds of pyreflies.

"We did it, ya? Good moves brutha! "Wakka grinned triumphantly, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. He nodded back, giving him a grin of his own and looked back. The last of the pyreflies was floating to the sky. Auron was just bringing his broadsword up from a cloud of pyreflies. Lulu was inspecting her doll for damage and Yuna had her back facing them, a soft white glow around her clasped hands. Rikku was sitting down on a flat rock. She was strangely silent, her hands interlocked tightly. "Is everyone alright?" Yuna called. There were calls of confirmation from everyone. "Let's go then."

Tidus exchanged Brotherhood into another hand to flex his fingers. "That wasn't so bad." he said as he turned to go. He felt good. A lot better actually.

Nothing like a good fiend fight to work off some steam. Wakka snorted. "Next time, I like my baddies on one side of me, thank ya very much." Kimahri nodded in agreement with Wakka as they continued their walk.

"Aww come on Wakka. Where's the fun in life if you can't live a little?" He teased, a smile dancing on his lips. "Yuna?" Lulu called. Everyone looked back.

The Black Mage was standing, half turned to them, half turned to Rikku.

The Al Bhed was still sitting on the rock, looking determiningly at the ground. Her teeth were clenched and she looked like she was trying not to cry.

Yuna rushed forward and knelt by Rikku. Tidus felt his grin fade. Beside him, Wakka and Kimahri had walked back to stand by the thief while being careful not get in Yuna's way.

"What's hurting?" the white mage asked, full of concern, running a practiced hand over her legs. But her question was unnecessary because she held up the leg hidden from view. "Just this?" Yuna asked, to Tidus's hearing, slowly. The edges of his vision became hazy, but the little details; the crinkle in Yuna's kimono, the soft white hair on Rikku's legs, the sheen on Yuna's pale fingernails, the stitches in Rikku's shoes, the pulsing veins in Rikku's slim leg suddenly came into sharper focus. As if in slow motion, Yuna held out the leg with one hand and slowly placed her palm over a long string of bruises and cuts on her calf.

He looked in everyone's faces. Lulu was holding onto Rikku's hand, whispering comforting words to her.

Wakka was telling her bluntly that she was going to be alright. Even Auron and Kimahri were watching her carefully. Tidus took a deep breath, feeling his world sharpen and narrowing to the white mage and the injured leg. He slowly walked closer to watch Yuna work her magic.

'If I hurt myself like that, they would have told me to get over it and drink a Hi-Potion.' The small part of him that could observe. A smaller part, deep inside him kindled like a piece of coal. She bruises herself and suddenly everyone's falling over themselves to make her happy. A part of him said savagely.

Vaguely, he tried to wave the voice to silence, but it was true wasn't it? He taken on tougher things then a bruise on the leg and didn't get as much as a sympathetic look. Slowly, he lifted his eyes from Yuna's glowing palm and into Rikku's eyes. Tears had gathered into the corner of her eye, threatening to spill over. A sudden nail of anger pounded into him, and he had to avert his eyes to the ground, just below Yuna's knee.

She starts bawling and she's treated like a damned royal princess? Memoires of Jecht surfaced. All of them when he cried and all of them with Jecht telling him to shut up, bawling again?, cry baby, cry baby, and a few of them when he was smacked around the head when Jecht was in a particularity nasty mood. He cried and he was smacked, she bawls and she's treated like the prima donna. Tidus sucked in a breath as Yuna's voice cut in like a soft melody. "All healed." And just like that his vision expanded and returned to normal. He let out a shaky breath slowly, feeling cold all over. "Thanks Yunie." the Al Bhed said warmly. Yuna smiled and gently replaced her leg. The bruises had completely faded to a healthy pink skin and the broken skin mended. The only evidence that Rikku had hurt her leg was excess blood smeared on her ankle. Rikku wiped it away before slowly standing up. Yuna stood with her keeping a careful eye on her feet. "It doesn't hurt anymore." Rikku announced, taking a few steps. Yuna watched her for a limp or wince and when she couldn't find anything wrong, she said, "Okay, I think we can leave now." Tidus took a hasty step back to get out of Yuna's way giving her a big smile that was a little inappropriate for such a moment. She sent him a puzzled, warm smile. He kept it plastered on his face until she walked by, by then feeling like a complete idiot. Fortunely, no one else saw him. They were all focused on Rikku. "Yes, yes, I'm okay Lulu." she huffed, but with a smile to the black mage. "Next time just say something." Auron said. Rikku gave him a brief nod, and just like that, they were leaving again.

All of the anger that he felt didn't leave right away. He stood there, one part trying to calm him down, another part wondering _why_he was so angry and another part ashamed that he didn't even feel the smallest twinge of concern when Rikku hurt herself.

What was wrong with him? Rikku was like his little sister.

He shouldn't be thinking like this. And the memories of Jecht? He hadn't touched those in years. He stopped thinking about his old man for months now. He didn't want to spoil a good thing. But just the thought of his old man made his gut clench. Something must have shown on his face, because when Auron walked past him, he raised an eyebrow in what he could almost mistake as concern. Ha! More like waiting for a chance to lecture him again. Tidus glared at him and turned to walk next to Yuna. Walking on the other side of the white mage, Rikku had intertwined her arm with Yuna's, chattering eagerly about their next shopping expedition.

Like a little monkey.

He shook his head vigorously. Tired. He must still be tired.

* * *

They had traveled nonstop for an hour when they ran into a familiar face. The familiar mop of brown hair and small black hat was recognizable from any distance, even without that bulging green backpack. O'saka waited patiently ahead standing by a growth of crystals until they reached talking distance. "Hey there everyone. Pity a guy who had no business all day? Got plenty of supply's if you need'em." he called cheerfully. "Oy, what are you doing in the middle of nowhere?" Wakka said when they all stopped. "Ahh...just going about the road. No one needs supplies like travelers on fiend breeding grounds. So what can I get for ya?" he beamed, clapping his hands together.

"A salesman to the end." Auron said in amusement. "You can't tell me you don't need anything after all the traveling you just did." O'saka looked wounded. "Tell you what, since you've been frequent buyers, I'll give you a one-time fifteen percent off." Before anyone could say anything, Rikku stepped forward, "You have any bomb cores? I'm running low for my mixes."

"No m'lady, but by pure chance, I did happen to haggle a nice piece of bomb shell from a nice gent today." he reached into one of the bags pockets and produced a black outer casing of a bomb. How he did that without looking was beyond Tidus. Rikku reached into her pouch, no doubt checking to see how much of everything she had. A pinched frown marred her lips and she looked at the shell as if debating its worth. "How many you have? No good if you don't have enough." O'saka pulled out a handful more with a delighted grin. Business was opening up.

Sensing that they weren't going anywhere for a while, Tidus and Kimahri stepped back from the inevitable haggling and sat down on a large rock. Might as well make the most of the unscheduled break as he can. Kimahri opted to stand. Normally Auron and Wakka left the girls to haggle over the potions and antidotes. They only conversed with O'saka directly if they needed new armor or weapons. "Can get you a really good deal, what say you 637 gil?" O'saka asked encouragingly. Rikku's outraged protest drowned out both Lulu and Yuna's arguing. Tidus sighed and rested his cheek on his hand to watch them.

An hour later, Tidus looked up from the blitzball magazine he snagged from Wakka. They were still arguing. Tidus tried hard to quell his annoyance but it was a half-hearted attempt. He got left behind and made everyone wait, sure, but it was an _accident_. Now the very people that he pissed off were haggling over a _stupid_ piece of armor burning an hour of daytime. How the hell wasn't that hypocritical? _Damn it._ Was everyone trying to piss him off?

Scowling, he bowed his head over the magazine so no one could see the look on his face if they chanced to look over at him. If the last hour was anything to go by, the chances wouldn't be very good. He stared at the sleek magazine, no longer seeing the dissembled machina that made the sphere shaped blitzball field.

Well if everyone was going to take their sweet time arguing with O'saka, he was going to get something to. It was only fair. No one could say anything if he bought something when everyone did. He slapped the magazine down and stood up.

* * *

Yuna looked at the O'saka's wares. Even with that bulging backpack, it was amazing how he managed to stuff everything in there. Staffs were laid carefully on the ground side by side. The tips were delicately carved into amazing designs. Some simple, some very complicated looking, all beautifully designed. A new piece of armor was tucked securely on her arm, and she just wanted something to help boost her magic. But it was so difficult. There were so many. One didn't provide enough mana, one gave more than enough magic power, but was too expensive for her pocketbook, a light staff boosted her speed, and another boosted her attack power, which she dismissed off hand. Finally, after much lip chewing and debate, she pointed a slender finger to an orange and red staff with a blazing sun head for the top. "That one." she said softly.

Like Yuna, O'saka had laid several broadswords on the ground for Auron's convenience. O'saka was helpfully listing the attributes of each sword, but like any salesman worth his merchandise, he could hear a sale from a mile away. Politely excusing himself, O'saka trotted over to Yuna and looked at her choice pick. "Very good staff you picked out that Lady Yuna," he grinned as he picked it up and handed it to her. The staff felt warm against her palm. Yuna paid the gil and carefully rested it in her pouch. When she looked up, Auron was still silently studying the heavy swords. "Are you ready Sir Auron?" she called.

Without looking up, Auron answered, "I'm almost finished. O'saka? I was wondering if I could get your help with something."

The salesman walked over to him.

They conversed in low tones. O'saka dragged his bag to him and opened up various pouches, pulling them out halfway. The enormous bag hid whatever O'saka brought out; Auron shaking his head in displeasure with each offered item. As Yuna turned to sit with the others, she missed the nod and O'saka's raised eyebrow at his choice. O'saka gave Auron his purchase, which he promptly stuffed in an inner pocket and exchanged his gil with the man. O'saka's grinned faltered at the warning in Auron's eyes. "A purchase is between the buyer and the seller sir." he said a little defensively.

Auron nodded and pointed to a broadsword. "And I'll take that."

A little warily, O'saka turned his back to pick it up and hand it to Auron. "And the price?" Auron asked. "Normally, I've got that at 15,000 gil, but today, 13,500." O'saka said cheerfully, lightly regretting on giving that 15% discount. Auron grunted and handed him gil in notes. O'saka's eyes widen; the notes were too thick for the discounted price, but he put on his best smile. "Anything else that you need, O'sakas got your goods." O'saka turned around just in time to come face to face with Tidus. Startled, but always eager to help the customer, O'saka recovered. "Hello lad. Looking for something to buy?" The lad's face was set in determination. For what, O'saka didn't know, but if the kid wanted to buy, who was he to begrudge him?

"Got any longswords?" He asked tersely. The boy had his arms folded defiantly across his chest. "Sure thing lad." He said cheerfully, pretending that nothing was amiss. "Would you like me to lay them out for you?"

"We don't have time." Auron said from behind him.

Something flickered in Tidus's eyes. O'saka didn't know what, but it made him uneasy as he never been before with the cheerful kid. "I can speak for myself." he said sharply. "We need to move or it will be dark before we reach the Calm Lands," was Auron's only reply. "Oh, so I guess everyone else can get something but me, huh?" Tidus shot back challengingly eyeing the High Guardian over his shoulder. Uncomfortable, O'saka looked between Tidus and to his side, not daring to look back. A deep silence fell in a thick sheet over them. Then, "Make it quick." Auron said, walking away. Tidus watched the Guardian's retreat with granite in his eye.

"Err...you wanted something?" O'saka asked a bit nervously. The sound of his voice broke Tidus out of his glaring, which wasn't all that better, because now he was looking at him, just a little less angrily. "Longswords?" he said again slowly, like he was talking to a idiot. "Ahh, yes, of course, young sir." O'saka kneeled by his bag and fumbled with the latches. "Anything in mind?" The boy thought for a moment and asked, "You got a fire element?" O'saka smiled, pushing his nervousness aside. This was business. This was something he lived for. "As a matter of fact, I've got one of the best fire-elemental longsword there is. Picked it up a fortnight ago, I did. Some unlucky chap was selling his weapons for a bit of gil. Had some trouble on the road, as I recall. Gave him a bit of extra gil for it, so he didn't come off too badly." O'saka reached arm deep in a pocket and grasped a handle. Reverently, he slowly drew it out.

The blade was long, just as the rest of Tidus's swords; the blade at least four feet, the handle another eight inches. The steel was a light blue with runes etched along the side of the razor sharp blade. Much like his water blade, a wicked looking hook as the tip. The handle was dark red with interlocking gold wiring woven around the metal. O'saka handed the blade carefully to Tidus. Flames sprung to life around the blade, but all Tidus felt was a pleasant warmth on his face. The runes, once a dark blue, now shone brilliant white. "How much?" he asked without taking his eyes off the fire blade. "For Firetongue? Well lad, this is pretty rare sword it is. Not only deals fire damage, but also absorbs fire attacks you know. Slices right into fiends as if they were made of paper. It'll help a nice kid like you out of a jam no problem."

"How much?" Tidus snapped jaw clenched at being called 'kid'. O'saka cleared his throat. "Well, normally, it would be twenty thousand gil, but I stand by my word as a merchant, and the fifteen percent still goes. I can sell you it for seventeen thousand instead." Tidus nodded and pulled out his money pouch. Quickly, he counted out seventeen thousand gil paper notes and thrust them in O'saka's hand. "Thanks lad!" he smiled, stuffing the money in a purse.

"Are you ready?" Lulu called, balancing a new doll -a Pupu- in her arms. Creases of annoyance lined his eyes, but the boy said calmly, "I'm finished."

The others had already packed up whatever they had out and had already started to slowly walk on the worn trail, while he carefully put Firetongue away in his pouch. "Happy to do business with ya, remember; there's no better place then O'saka XXIII, merchant extraordinaire!" O'saka beamed cheerfully. Watching Tidus carefully put away one of his best swords, O'saka felt a twinge of relief. Most of the anger had gone drained from his face, displaying his features as O'saka remembered. Carefree and cheerful. "Good luck on the road lad." he added as Tidus finished buttoning his pouch. Slowly Tidus looked up and O'saka had to resist the urge to step back. The anger hadn't gone out of Tidus's face; it just migrated to his eyes.

Raising a hand, Tidus pointed his finger in O'saka's face. And O'saka looked into blue eyes that had turned into a dark storm. His imagination must be going haywire, because O'saka could have sworn that his eyes had a hint of purple. "Don't ever, _ever_, call me a kid again." Tidus said slowly, puncturing each word clearly. O'saka swallowed and nodded, not trusting his voice. Tidus withdrew his finger and followed after his Summoner and his companions. When Tidus was safely out of sight, O'saka let out shaky breath, picked up his hat with one hand and ran his hand through his hair with the other. For once in his life, he was wholeheartedly happy that he gave the discount.

* * *

Another thing I would like to add, there is a reason for everything, even behavior.


	4. A Son's Ambivalence

Thank you all for your patience on this fic. I am terribly sorry about the wait. Rather unfortunate, when I discovered I could post stuff up again, my computer attracted a deadly sort of attention.

A virus.

My computer sat unused for an entire week before a dear relative directed me to weed out the trouble some things. Speaking of which, I would caution all to avoid Dell computer experts offer to clear away the bugs. They were willing to take off the viruses for a price- $235! I was completely outraged that the computer companies would take advantage of desperate people with valuable information on their computer. For the money they charged, I could pay half of my bills!

I had finished this fic about a week ago, but became distracted when school gave me a particularly bad week of homework. I just finished the editing, but if anything is off, please forgive me.

To all my loyal readers, if you post me in your Favorite story alerts, please be kind enough to leave me a thought on the story. It seems rather pointless to do so if you won't even let the author know _why_ you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFX

* * *

The nerve of that stupid merchant. He scowled at the nothing in particular. Who the hell was he to call him a kid? He was a fricken' adult, and had been for over a year. Just because he looked young didn't mean he was a child. For a brief moment, Tidus felt a twinge of remorse for telling O'saka off, but whatever guilt he felt disappeared as he recalled how many times O'saka called him 'kid' and 'lad'.

He called Auron 'sir'. Hell, he even called Wakka and Kimahri 'sir'. He was the only one that O'saka treated like a teenager. Even Rikku was treated with more maturity then he was. Most likely because Rikku was the one who did the majority of the shopping in the group.

But still...

What was it about him that set people to treat him like a damn kid? The afternoon didn't much improve his mood. They ran into several groups of fiends, even ran into a nest of Barbuta's. The number of times they had to stop to kill fiends did little to improve morale overall for the group. Auron looked disgruntled with each fiend they ran into. Tidus figured it was because he would be wrong about reaching the Calm Lands by night or perhaps it was the seventeenth time they ran into a fiend, though honesty, Tidus had lost count after the Barbuta nest. But that was when he noticed something peculiar.

Yuna had to cast Cure several times on each person except him. Even still, the rest of the group looked a little harried. Their shoulders dropped a little lower; they were walking almost grudgingly.

But he felt great. In fact, he felt fantastic.

He had dodged nearly every single fiend attack and didn't feel out of breath. His speed wasn't the only thing that improved.

For attacks, he had set aside Brotherhood in favor of his new sword Firetongue. The fire sword cut through fiends with an ease that unsettled him. At first when he was trying to balance his fighting between a Sallet and a White Elemental, he was focused on bringing down the elemental. The Sallet had run too close to him. He had dodged, but just barely as the Sallet accidentally scraped across Firetongue. The Sallet didn't even realize that it had touched a flaming sword. But after he had killed the White Elemental, which was ridiculously easy for the level the fiend was, Tidus turned Firetongue on the Sallet. He knew it would do little good. Long swords were too light to do anything more damaging then to scratch the hide. You needed either momentum like Kimhari's Jump provided or a heavy sword like Auron's broadsword. So when he brought down Firetongue with all his strength, he was amazed as the fiery metal cut into its hide like melted butter. The thing screeched and collapsed in a cloud of pyreflies. After the battle, they congratulated each other for their kills. Wakka made mention of his dispatchment of the Sallet to everyone.

"Sallets? They're generally not weak to Fire." Lulu commented as Wakka described the fight, arching a cool eyebrow his way. "Hey, you should have seen it Lulu. He just cut it right in half." Wakka said again, arguing with the black mage. The rest of the group was listening with half an ear, more worried about how much distance they needed to travel that involved more of these Sallets before they hit the Calm Lands. "Your getting real good at this fiend fighting brutha!" Wakka lightly punched his arm with a wide grin. Tidus grinned back, feeling good for the first time today. "Must be all the practice." He shrugged. And it was true. He felt a lot stronger since Bevelle. Macalania Woods may be a pain to navigate through, but it was perfect for training.

Much later in the afternoon, after they had set up a temporary camp for lunch, Tidus had sat next to a cluster of glowing blue crystals. Rikku had came over and sat next to him, taking advantage of the break to mix a few more potions up. So far, he was the only one who paid attention to her alchemy. Lulu and Yuna occasionally listened to her chatter, but were usually too preoccupied with their spellcasting. Kimhari's and Auron's silence often discouraged her and Wakka wasn't comfortable with alchemy just yet, so she was thrilled just to talk about all the attributes of mixing defensive items with the offensive with someone who would listen. As Tidus finished his sandwich, he silently observed her mixes, making the occasional comment about Hero's Drink and X-Potion and whatever came to mind.

"Now just mix Farplane Shadow with a Hi-Potion here," she pulled out the two labeled items and placed them in front of her, "and you'll get a Blaster Mine. Of course, you can substitute a Potion and get the same results," she pulled out a potion and laid it down by the Hi-Potion and Farplane Shadow, "so it's important to keep all sorts of items in your pouch, even if they seem pretty worthless." she smiled, her twrilly green eyes alight in the light of the crystal. "Okay." He said, swallowing the last bite of his sandwich. "I was always wondering why you kept all your potions."Giving a small grin, she whispered solemnly, "That's because alchemists are smarter than your average fiend." She cracked up. Her giggles were contagious, and Tidus had to choked back his laughter at her silliness. As her giggles died away, her grin slowly became puzzled. She tilted her head, and peered into his eyes. Put off by her behavior, Tidus gave her a puzzled look.

"What?"

"Huh? Oh nothing." she shook her head. "It just looked like your eyes...they were purple." Raising an eyebrow at her silly answer, he smiled. "Purple?" he echoed skeptically. "Well," she shrugged her slender shoulders, "more like a lot of blue and a little purple. Like when you mix a lot of blue food dye with a drop of purple. Kind of like that." she tapped her finger on her lips.

"Must be my imagination." She said wryly. Looking at her still lightly puzzled face, he took a sip from his bottled water. "Could be the light." he offered. Rikku bobbed her head, raking everything in front of her into her pouch.

"Hey you two," Yuna called out urgently. "Kimahri said there's three Rhyo's heading this way." Tidus and Rikku glanced at each other and scrambled to their feet. For the first time, Tidus noticed that he and Rikku were the only ones still sitting. The rest of the group had already sprung to their feet and were now drawing their weapons.

"We defend here. More room." Auron barked, activating his shield.

Slipping on her Cat's Claw, Rikku jumped by Kimahri's side. "Gotch'ur back big guy." she said. They faced the north, which meant they would have to go through the fiends if they wanted to reach the Calm Lands. Throwing his drink aside, Tidus activated his shield and reached for Firetongue. The sword's flame flickered reassuringly. Auron, Rikku, Yuna, Lulu, Wakka and Kimahri stood side by side with their backs to him. Tidus made a start to join them when he stopped.

For reason's he didn't quite know why, he hesitated. He looked at his friend's backs and looked at the trail that led south. He squinted his eyes. What he was looking for he didn't know, but he just felt that he _had_ to look. "Rhyo's approaching! Get ready!" he heard Yuna cry. Still, he refused to budge. The silvery light glowed softly on everything. On the patches of snow, of grass, green leaves that moved. He felt his body slide into a battle stance almost of its own will, still not understanding why he was looking, just that he _had _to. The ground thudded heavily as three very large Rhyo's came closer. Just as he heard Kimahri, Lulu and Yuna cast their spells to the oncoming minotaur fiends, three fat fishes swam out of the trees. They studied the scene in less than a minute and shot to his comrades' backs.

Xiphactinus. Fish fiends that moved in the air as easily as if it was water.

A cackle of lightening teased around his fingers. Tidus gestured to the lead. Lightening burst and shot through the fiend.

It squealed as it spasmed uncontrollably. The attack was too much for it and it burst into pyreflies. Outraged by the loss of their companion, the remaining Xiphactinus turned their bulging eyes to him and turned with a grace that only fish possessed and swam toward him, their fins working overtime. Six inch teeth literally flew toward him. Tidus grasped Firetongue a little tighter, staring death in the face, but far from feeling frightened, he felt exhilarated. Finally, a little action where he didn't have to watch his swordplay to avoid hitting his companions. Their maws opened, bulgy eyes protruding disgustingly. A thrill rang through him, better than any high. His vision contracted and narrowed to these ugly bloated fiends. So disgusting. They didn't deserve to live. As they closed hitting distance, he felt his limbs tremble in excitement. Then he struck.

The first slice tore off left fin of the left fiend. Blood splattered in the air as it hit a major artery.

Blood spurted in the air and on the snowy grass. The Xiphactinus tilted to one side, no longer in control of its ability to steer. The Xiphactinus on the right was already on him, grazing it's teeth into his shoulder as it shot over his shoulder, the dorsal fin slapped his head viciously. For a second, Tidus was in serious danger. White stars danced across his vision. He stumbled, clutching his head. 'Ugh' he dimly thought. He heard the angry chatter of the Xiphactinus as it charged him again. Even through his headache, Tidus dropped to the ground and winced as it jarred his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, the stars slowly disappeared. Finding this treatment successful, he took another and another until all the stars had gone. Quickly, he stood up.

His head still ached, but there was no help for it.

Without it's fin, the wounded Xiphactinus was stuck swimming in circles, going slower and slower. He turned to find the other fiend nearly a foot away from his face in mid-charge. A jolt of alarm shot through his stomach. He let himself fall, bringing Firetongue up.

The world tilted as the Xiphactinus fleshy white stomach passed overhead. Firetongue was too late to punch through the stomach, but not too late to slice into the fleshy area right before the tail. The fiend screamed its agony as its tail was sliced in two from its own momentum. It tumbled in the air several yards away and floated there, thrashing around but unable to move due to its damaged fin. There were roars far behind him and great crashing sounds. Large bodies stomped the ground. The sound of sword whipping into flesh resonated through the air like slapping raw meat and tore free with a _'snnniiiiiccccckkkkkk_'.

Goosebumps rose as he shivered in delight. His narrow vision brightened from a new cloud of pyreflies. He looked at the Xiphactinus, one then the other. The missing fin had slowed to a stop, and gracefully, dipped toward the ground. Before it reached the snow, it dissolved into pyreflies. Apparently the loss of blood was too much for it. Quarts of its blood had stained the snow a dark red, but the silvery glow that lit everything in the Macalania Woods shone softly on this to. Who knew a fish fiend could bleed so much? So much the better. Whipping Firetongue in the air to fall to his side, he slowly approached the Xiphactinus. It struggled, thrashing side to side, as if tied down by an invisible line. He felt a smile on his face. He had won. And he could extract all the pain he wanted for the little struggling bastard for his headache. The fish fiend growled low as he approached.

Anger from this primitive warning shot through him. This piece of crap was warning _him_? How the hell did it think it got there in the first place? Tidus approached it more confidently, walking closer then he originally planned. Like it's partner, the Xiphactinus was bleeding heavily. Most of had spread coated the bottom half of its body and was now dripping steadily on the ground. It was slowly dying. _'Maybe,'_ he thought to himself, looking at Firetonuge, _'I can help it along.'_

He had stopped within feet of it. The fiend was growling, desperately trying to escape. Tidus took another step closer when the fiend lunged at him, but was stopped short from its damaged tail. It's teeth snapped a couple inches from his face. Dark hot anger snapped in him and he shoved Firetongue in its belly before it could pull back. The sword met no resistance as it speared it's flesh. It's bulgy eyes bugled, it's body weakly wiggling, every little movement like a pleasure riveting through his body. His narrowed vision caught everything. It's body covered in healed over nicks from fiend or human. The fins on its sides flapped gently over its skin, the transparent scales tinting red as blood slowly pooled farther along it's body. The blue-white scales glistened with moisture and sweat. Tidus shoved Firetongue farther and the fiend let out a dying cry. The flesh around Firetongue sizzled and blackened to a hard crisp. Burnt fish wafted into his nose and he had to resist the urge to gag. It was disgusting. Tidus wrinkled his nose and jerked his sword in the fiend. Giving a final shrudder, the fiend let out one last gasp and dissolved into pyreflies. He rammed Firetongue into earth and gripped as through it was his anchor as the pyreflies flew to the open sky ashnd gave a shudder himself. His vision widened and returned and with it a part of his mind that had been on hold. His head was pounding and his shoulder throbbed, but that wasn't what was making him shake.

High Spira, he _enjoyed_ it. His breaths came in heavy panting. He enjoyed burning those stupid carcasses. He liked making those fiends bleed just as much as he liked listening to them scream. Beads of sweat rolled down his temples.

He slowly turned his head to watch how the others were doing. They were down to one very beat up Rhyo. Wakka and Kimahri looked worse for wear. Lulu was sitting, something she never did except when she was near unconscious. Yuna was performing Haste while Auron was trying to hack it to pieces. Running around the fiend, Rikku was stealing whatever she could find sticking to its fur. She was a lot less agile than usual, a sure sign she was tired. Tidus closed his eyes and rubbed his face in the back of his hands.

The back of his head was throbbing hotly in time with this heartbeat. Gingerly touching where the fish had slapped him, he prodded for bumps. Sure enough, he had one. A sensitive one at that. He let out a hiss it gave a nasty throb. Well, that why he wanted to kill that stupid fish, he reminded himself. It's only natural to get angry when you get hurt. The fiend only got what it deserved. Sure he got a little carried away, but he was under a lot of stress lately. Only makes sense to place it somewhere. He pulled out Firetongue and drank a Potion, feeling health flow back into his limbs. The ache and scratches the Xiphactinus had left on his shoulder almost disappeared and the throbbing in the back of his head lessened. He watched Wakka deliver the killing blow with a blitz right between the eyes. The Rhyo let out a roar that rebounded in Tidus's ears and collapsed. Everyone gave a sigh of relief just before it dissolved back into pyreflies.

The battle with the Rhyos was not an easy one, and the consequences it extracted took a heavy toll on their Hit Points. Fortunely, healing was what Yuna did best, and she performed her skills flawlessly. Swiftly, she cast her Cures. Everyone came away with some benefit, though she did have to cast Cure on Rikku and Lulu twice.

It was when she was performing her last Cures on the girls that Tidus came up to them. "Hey brutha, where were ya?" Wakka called, still high on their kill and feeling good with the newly bestown Cure. Yuna muttered the last of the white magic and executed the action. A trickle of magic left her to morph into a gentle white glow that surrounded Lulu for precious seconds before fading. When she perceived that no one else was in need of her arts, she turned to pay attention to Tidus for the first time and unintentionally let out a soft gasp.

Blood was splattered all over his face, his shoulders, his arms and his chest. His face, shoulders and upper body were the worst, the blood growing fainter along his arms and down his chest, disappearing altogether at his abdomen. There was excess blood from freshly mended scratches on his shoulder that her healer's eye picked up, but other than that, he looked fine. A little out of breath, but fine. Just fine.

His eyes looked a little odd. It could be the odd light that gave everyone a strange shade of color, but Yuna thought they looked a little more bluer than usual. Almost purple. But her thoughts were forgotten as Wakka broke the sudden silence.

"Hey, uh, you okay brudda?" he asked hesitantly. Confused, Tidus nodded, giving a shrug. "Yeah. Why?" "Uh, ya got a little..." Wakka started, gesturing around his face. Tidus watched him, patiently waiting for Wakka to make sense.

"Your covered with blood." Lulu blithely put in. "Huh?" Tidus wiped his face and stared at the stain on his glove. Yuna winced. Swiping his face only smeared the blood. Tidus made a face and wiped his hand on his shorts. "Oh yeah. I was fighting with a couple Xiphactinus. Hit an artery." He looked around. "Anyone got handkerchief?"

"There's a stream up ahead. You can wash there." Auron said wrinkling his nose. Tidus frowned to himself and stared at the spray of blood on his arms. "Great." He muttered. Yuna couldn't blame him for being so unenthusiastic. She didn't envy walking around covered in the stuff. "Well, let's get going then. The sooner I can get washed, the better."

There was a general agreement about this. When they set off, they were careful to keep out of touching distance of Tidus, which he seemed to be good-heartedly annoyed with. They wanted to hurry, because as Auron commented, fiends love the smell of blood and who knows what would come out of the woods? Yuna eyed Tidus as they walked. The finer spray of blood was already drying, which had to itch. Unsurprisingly, there was an anxious jilt to his walk. The soft glow from the ice-blue crystals glowed eerily off him. The dark blood of the Xiphactinus shone red-black in the light. The thick coating of blood didn't even make it look like he was injured, as you can often mistake when someone has blood on them. The silver glow made Tidus look like he walked out of a gory horror story.

Tidus hadn't even bothered trying to wipe himself off. There was too much to make a difference. But when Tidus met her eyes and gave her what he must have thought was an encouraging smile, she had to avert her eyes. 'Your being silly.' she chided herself. Still, she couldn't bring herself to look at him again until she was sure he wasn't looking at her.

Because when he smiled, she had the strangest thought that his teeth looked whiter and a lot longer than they should have been.

As they continued walking, Tidus kept shifting; rolling his shoulders, flexing his hands, subtlety shaking his arms and giving his limbs puzzled glances. No one noticed, and if they did, they thought he was just uneasy in the mess he was covered in. The next quarter of the hour passed uneventfully. Then just as they were about to pass an unremarkable wall of brush and overgrown tree trunks, Auron waved them to stop. When everyone had gathered around him, he took out his broadsword and started hacking at the brush. Tidus cocked his head to the side curiously, wandering what his old mentor was up to. It took some doing, but finally Auron peeled away the last layer to reveal a large clearing. Just yards away, a small pond started, only ankle deep for several steps in the pool until it gently sloped to deeper depths. The thick overhead of twisting trunks and leaves blocked out the sunlight, but the water sparkled like a pool of diamonds.

A large beyond the small pond contributed to most of the overhead growth. Around this small piece of silver and blue dream, the brush surrounded the area in a solid wall. Or close to it anyways. Auron entered first, shouldering his broadsword. Rikku, being right behind him, had to duck to avoid being sliced by the large sword. When everyone was in there, Auron looked around as if he dropped something. Even by Macalania rights, this place was beautiful. Lulu, Wakka, Rikku and Yuna were looking around appreciatively, Kimahri scanned for fiends and Tidus was watching Auron. "Hey, you drop something?"

"No," Auron shook his head still scanning. "It should still be here." he said almost to himself.

Tidus sent him a questioning look. "What should still be here?" Auron straightened up. "A sphere from Jecht." Even at the mention of his old man, Tidus's eyes sharpened with anger. A lot of anger. "Hmm." Tidus nodded and looked at the pond.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wakka and the girls slowly neared the pond. He couldn't blame them. The water was beautiful. He trudged behind them slowly. A sphere. A sphere from...his old man? More recordings on his old man's journey? What could his old man recorded that Auron was willing to delay Yuna's pilgrimage just for him to watch? Auron was no longer scanning the ground, opting to look around the lake, his one good eye flickering back and forth.

"H-hey, I think something's wrong with the water, ya?" Tidus snapped out of his thoughts to glance at Wakka. The retired blitzer had flung out both arms to stop a confused Yuna and and an annoyed Lulu from continuing. He was watching the water with a strange look on his face. Everyone's gaze slid to the pond. Nothing looked out of place.

The water was calm and smooth and still had white sparkles dancing in the water, but nothing wrong otherwise. Tidus was just about to say so when the water shook, violently rippling, then a giant...sphere shot out. The fiend looked as through it was made of water, like a blitzball stadium, except with a white core inside it. It bounced gently a few inches in air, rising above their heads and lowering until it was only feet off the ground, effectively blocking off their exit.

"What is that thing?" Rikku squeaked, taking a step back.

"An Elemental Sphere." Auron said, slipping into fighting stance.

"Crap, I guess this means we have to fight huh?" Tidus snarled, Firetongue appearing with a whirl.

"Doesn't look too tough." Wakka conjured, a blitz with six inch long spikes imbedded in the game ball tucked securely under his arm.

"Don't be fooled. It's stronger than it looks." Auron cautioned. And with that, the battle began. Lulu cast off a dozen of spells, each with various effects, even the same ones she had previously cast much to the black mage's frustration. The sphere fiend was repellent to physical attacks, so Tidus, Wakka and Auron stayed back and let the girls cast their own spells. Tidus cast his haste spell on Lulu. Wakka tried a few elemental attacks. Some worked some didn't. Auron threw an occasional hi-potion when he could. The sphere may have looked docile, but it packed a punch in offensive spells. It's physical attack, raising high in the air and dropping over a person was by no means gentle either. Finally, Lulu realized it took the element whatever it was attacked with. "What is that thing again?" Tidus called out to Auron. "An Elemental Sphere." he grunted, nursing a headache brought on by the fiend free falling on his head. "Fiends are attracted to water."

"Hey, Lulu, what did you just cast on it?" Lulu was hunched over in pain. When the Elemental Sphere realized that the only ones attacking it were the girls and the occasional fight from Wakka and Kimahri with Lulu bringing out the most damage, it had targeted her for the remainder of the battle. Auron was using Hi-Potions nearly every chance he had on her.

Straightening up as best as she could she barked, "Yuna, Cure." Before she addressed Tidus rapidly, "Don't attack it. Your Black Magic still needs work."

"Because your in the best of shape to kill it huh?" He snapped, frustrated. "Screw this." he muttered to himself and leapt within attack range of the Sphere.

"What did Lulu just attack it with Wakka?" he shouted to the blitzer, who was trying a poison attack with his blitz. The blitz glowed a faint poisonous looking green when he tossed it. "Ask Kimahri." He shouted, jumping up to catch the rebounding blitz. "Fire." The Ronso shouted, overhearing him on the other side of the battle field with his inhuman ears. The Elemental Sphere was rising above his head. Unable to move out of the way in time, Kimahri swung his spear up. Sure enough, the fiend crashed down on it, it's thick blubbery surface rippled and a blue sheen passed across it's body, but it floated up and hovered feet away from the ground still ready to fight. That was when Tidus released his Ice. Sharp shards of ice appeared inches from the fiend and dug it's way in the fiends body. Far off next to the water, Rikku was mixing up her little concoctions, but stopped to throw her Grenade. The explosive detonated right under the sphere, but didn't do much damage. Yuna was waving her staff, casting another white magic next to Lulu. She had a split lip and had somehow cut her head right above the temple. Blood dribbled down the side of her face, but she relentlessly kept casting her Cures.

They were giving it their all, but the Sphere was still taking it and dishing out more. Yuna couldn't summon, it was too crowded. Someone would get hurt if one of the aeons materialized here and started attacking the fiend.

The Sphere swung back and forth as if it was a giant pendulum, almost playfully. Tidus gritted his teeth. The little...! Bastard was mocking them!

Wait...He just attacked it with Ice, right? That meant the Elemental Sphere in Ice element. And it's weakness would be...He snapped out of his thoughts and shouted to Kimahri, who was charging up an spell. "Don't attack it, I've got an idea!" Kimahri nodded, lowering his hands and letting his spell die. Out of the corner of his eye, Lulu was kneeling by Yuna who had passed out. Auron was standing protectively over them in case the Sphere thought of attacking them. When Rikku saw her cousin collapse, she abandoned her mixes to Yuna's side. Now she was trying to mix up a healing potion. Wakka was bouncing from foot to foot, frustrated that he couldn't attack. Kimahri and Wakka were out of attacking distance, safe for him to do his work. Tidus gripped Firetongue. He had never tried this before, but what the hell?

He concentrated on the Sphere, which had stopped swinging. It was glowing a golden yellow, which signaled a magical discharge attack was incoming.

He had mastered the first level of the black magic. He was pretty decent in his Watera, and okay in the other second levels.

It was only recently that Lulu taught him the third level Black Magics, but he had only tried it once with a zero success rate. So he was just going to have to settle with his second level magics. Hot magic gathered in his mind, the essence of fire, burning, raging, consuming. The fire of the sun, it burned in his mind and he directed the fire down his hands. He sprung at the fiend, it's golden color glowing brighter.

A tingle, so sharp and sweet he nearly sobbed, shot through him, touching all of his nerves and making his whole body shake. He jumped up, his blitz training lending him strength that sent him flying almost on top of the Sphere. The fire in his mind snapped, and suddenly, he was flooded with it and he could only direct it down into Firetongue.

Burning, scorching, hot, fire, he was on fire. Firetongue's flame roared to an inferno, changing from its golden red flame to livid white blue. It surrounded him, all of him, licked his skin, and scorched him, all in one moment.

His vision constricted. He could only focus on the fiend; a rubbery ball filled with water. _'Let's see how you like it bitch.'_ He wasn't aware of his wild grin, only the sweet thrill this was making his body clench in sweet agony.

And then he slammed Firetongue in the Sphere as hard as he could. The rubbery skin split like a bad apple. Through the rising flames, Tidus saw Firetongue touch the white core in the middle of its body. The fiend violently trembled, as if it was made of jello; the water inside it boiled. Tidus vision constricted so narrowly, his eyes blurred, the sweet tingle singing in the pleasure of the like he never felt before.

Steam from its open wound rose into the night sky. If it could, it would be screaming.

Then it jerked to a standstill.

The top layer of the Sphere softened and dissolved into pyreflies. Then it's sides, going down it's orb like body until the very bottom before it was nothing but another cloud of pyreflies. Tidus landed softly on his feet, his mana spent.

Firetongue's fire cooled and retreated back into the sword, back to cackling merrily along the sword. Breathing heavily, he looked at Firetongue, forgetting he had an audience.

The runes along the sword glowed their brilliant blue. Not sky blue, or ocean blue, but fire blue, the only blue you find at the heart of the flame.

The wave of pleasure he had felt resided like a wave retreating back into the ocean, leaving him with a sick hollow feeling.

Spira, what the hell was going on?

A slap on his back made him jump. "Great job brudda!" Wakka grinned, pulling Tidus in a one handed hug. Where did he come from? "You took out that baddie like nobody's business, ya?"

"That was great, how'd you do that?" Rikku asked with an impish smile, despite her exhaustion. Something touched him gently on his arm accomplied by a soft feminine voice, "That was wonderful." Startled, Tidus looked down and into Yuna's eyes. There were bags under eyes and she looked tired, but she didn't look to be suffering any adverse side effects from overdoing it. Tidus hid the look on his face and gave a crooked grin. "Yeah, and I don't even know how I did that. Are you okay?" He asked in concern. It took a moment for Yuna's mind to process what he asked, she was still pretty tired. She blinked and nodded slowly.

"Yes. But an Elixir sounds wonderful right now." She smiled ruefully.

Tidus nodded. He felt the same way. He didn't need it, his limbs were unscarred and still felt like they could play a game a blitz, but his mana had drained to practically a dry well. "Impressive work Tidus." The voice of black velvet said. Lulu had regained a portion of her strength and was making her way to them. If you didn't know her, you would never have guessed her careful poised steps were masking her tiredness. Raising his eyebrow he watched her cradle one of her dolls. Lulu rarely called him by his first name. "You performed your Firaga flawlessly. A bit unorthodox though." Tidus grinned, pushing the hollow feeling to the back of his mind. "Thanks Lulu."

Someone tapped Yuna's shoulder and she turned her head to find an X-Potion offered to her. "Kimahri is sorry. He has no Elixir to give Yuna." The Ronso rumbled. Yuna politely declined. "Thank you Kimahri, but I think I could heal myself and everyone else if I just replenish my mana." She no sooner said that when Kimahri had replaced the X-potion and was handing her an ether. This she accepted and drank the little bottle. "Thank you Kimahri." She smiled. The Ronso gave her a toothy smile and discarded the bottle. Yuna stepped away from the group, and gave herself a Cura. "Okay, who else?"

Yuna asked looking from face to face. Lulu, Rikku and Kimahri stepped closer to the white mage. Wakka, being on the side lines for the better part of the battle, was barely scratched. It was at that point that Tidus realized that they were missing someone.

"Hey, where's Auron?"

"Here." Auron grunted, holding a video sphere close to his chest. Curious, Rikku and Lulu, who had just been Cura'd, and Wakka gathered around him. Tidus wasn't so quick to go closer. Didn't Auron say this sphere was from his old man? Spira, he didn't want to listen to what his old man had to say fifteen years ago. Whatever Jecht said wasn't important anymore. But he wasn't given much of a choice as Auron walked up to him and thrust the sphere in his hands. "We're lucky your attack didn't destroy it." Auron commented. Giving him a confused glance, Tidus thought _'What does he mean by that? The sphere was inside the fiend?_' The sphere was heavy for such a small thing. It was only half the size of a blitz ball, or maybe it was all the memories that were heavy. The sphere was a watery blue with a little orange switch along the bottom. Tidus hesitated for a moment then flicked the switch.

The picture flickered, there was some cursing, and then finally settled on Jecht. The sphere was short, Jecht struggling to define his feelings about knowing he wouldn't be going home. "Ahh forget it. I was never good with this stuff." He mumbled after trying to tell his son his feelings. The picture changed to Jecht sitting down in front of a Macalania tree. "Hey," Jecht began. "I know I'm not going back to Zanderkand," he hesitated, trying to find the words to say good-bye. "So your the man of the house now. Take good of your mother." Jecht stood up and walked closer to the sphere.

"Huh. Your probably as tall as I am, just a lot skinnier. You eating right boy?" The sphere was ground level, so the straps of his sandals filled the video. The world tilted as Jecht picked up the sphere. Jecht hold the sphere up close to his face and Tidus could see every whisker, every line in his old man's face. A cold feeling plummeted his stomach. He had forgotten how rough his father looked up close. After years of having his memory in his mind, he thought he'd never forget his old man, a fact he loathed daily. But there were wrinkles there that he couldn't remember, or weren't there when Jecht disappeared to Spira. He had forgotten how brown his old man's eyes were, how unkempt his hair was, and, Tidus noted a little uneasily, the first flecks of gray in his hair.

It was unsettling.

"Anyway, umm...Be safe." His old man's eyes lit up with sincerity, or concern, Tidus didn't know, but all he could remember right then was his old man slapping him when he was crying, and the hurt and the pain of wondering why he was punished so severely for something he couldn't help clash with a _need_ that he unknowingly wanted to hear for so long. It twisted in him, making his stomach roll and he didn't dare speak. He could only watch. The sphere swung to a view of the trees. "Anyway," his father cleared his throat. "I'm proud of you." His father turned off the sphere and the video ended.

No one glanced at Tidus. But somehow, they focused on him without moving their eyes. Their eyes were carefully, and above all safely averted to any place but Tidus, who was staring at the sphere with an unreadable expression on his normally expressive face.

"Huh." he said. That was it.

No said anything for a minute. Finally, "We're done here." Auron cut in, breaking into the heavy silence. Silently, the group marched single file out of the forest room. Auron stayed put, making sure his comrades were really leaving. Just as their friends crossed the thickage, Tidus finally made a move to follow. He only got as far as a few steps when Auron called out, "Wait." Tidus closed his eyes. He really didn't need this. The twisting emotions in his stomach made him want to go as far away as possible from prying eyes, especially prying one-eyed guardians that didn't know when to leave a subject well enough alone.

Opening his eyes, he turned to face Auron. The older guardian was studying him quietly. "What?" Tidus asked exhaustively. How many times was Auron going to keep rehashing the past?

"Jecht..." Auron said slowly, "He loved you." Tidus let out a bitter chuckle. Yevon, he just never quit, did he?

"Yeah, right." Tidus turned to go, done with the conversation. "When will you stop hating your father to your own benefit?" Auron growled. Suprised, Tidus stopped mid-turn to look at him. His old mentor was glaring at him with his fists half-clenched. "Jecht traveled across Spira to defeat Sin to come home to _you. _He never once stopped trying to find a way to get back to Zanderkand."

His heart clenched with an emotion Tidus didn't want to analyze too closely and his tongue felt too thick to move. Then the memories came back. The old memories that showed how much of a bastard his father was. Were fathers even supposed to make fun of their kid's practice technique?

Bastard. That's all his old man was. He took everything and made it all to be about him. Fame, attention, love...and worst of all, his mother. Selfish bastard was still ruining his life without being in it. Dammit, why couldn't Auron see that? Why the hell was he so damn determined that Tidus look past all the shit he pulled and look at this goody-goody vision of his dad that never existed except in a bunch of stories?

"I'm sure he was a damn good actor." Tidus spat. That was the wrong thing to say. A dark anger clouded Auron's face, and Tidus was certain if he was anyone but himself, Auron would have punched him.

"Jecht was a good man. Not the best, but he tried. If you stop looking at your memories with self-pity, you might see that." Auron growled dangerously.

"All I saw was a drunk who loved his fame as much as he did his booze. All he ever talked about was himself." Tidus could feel a hot heat fill him. It made him want to punch something himself. "As for wanting to come back home, you know I honestly think he got too close to Sin's toxin." Tidus glared, not caring how mad Auron was.

Oh, Auron was angry. The old guardian's body was coiled like a compressed spring. Tidus hadn't seen him this angry for a long time. He looked even more angrier then the time when he tried to beat the crap out of a group of assholes that slammed one of his friends head down on the street back in Zanderkand. But all Auron did was brush past him. "Wash yourself." Auron clipped out and exited out the thicket. Tidus watched him leave feeling anger simmer, frustration, and strangely, a small feeling of loss. Tidus brushed that feeling away as he looked down at himself.

The blood from his earlier battle had all but dried by now from a dark red to a red black. Anger momentarily forgotten, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. He'd almost forgotten about his stained attire. No matter. Tidus walked to the clear blue pool. The diamond like sparkles danced more in the water once again. Quickly, Tidus stripped down out of his stained clothes to his boxers and splashed himself. The blood washed off him and in the water, the red swilling among the clean water. Tidus paused to watch it uncomfortably. It felt like he was tainting the pool. His right shoulder was almost healed he discovered, which was rather odd. Did Yuna cast a Cure to speed up the healing process when he wasn't looking? He had a several sets of extra shirts. He pulled another one out that would be fine until he got his old one cleaned. His leather overall he kept on. They were a one of a kind deal.

Feeling refreshed, Tidus walked out of the thicket. Everyone was waiting for him ready to go. Wakka and Lulu were taking the lead with Yuna in the middle, Rikku and Kimahri on either side and Auron as the rear guard. Tidus stepped next to Wakka, wanting to be as far away from his old mentor as he could get. Auron ignored his presence entirely. There were a few curious glances cast from Auron to him, but no said anything, no doubt wondering what happened. Well, everyone was probably wondering that, because they were being extra reserved around the very pissed off guardians.

* * *

Due to my lack of chance to play FFX for almost 2 years, the sphere of Jecht is a little hazy, so I followed it as best as my memory allowed and made the rest up. I'm not even sure if Its even close, but I hope it satisfies.

Another point, I realize that the fiend that was fought at the Springs was listed a different name and the attacks are quite different, but when I realized my mistake, I had already written the battle scence.


End file.
